MEA confirms ‘incident’ took place at Pangong Lake on Aug 15

New Delhi: Amid reports of a brief scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops near Pangong Lake in Ladakh, the government on Friday said that an “incident” indeed did take place.

“Today, I can confirm that there was an incident at Pangong Tso on August 15,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in the weekly media briefing.

“This was subsequently discussed by the local army commanders of the two sides,” he said.

“We feel that such incidents are not in the interest of either side. We should maintain peace and tranquility.”

The Chinese soldiers are said to have attempted to cross the Line of Actual Control near Pangong lake, but were stopped by Indian soldiers.

According to sources, there were heated exchange of words and a standoff between the troops of both sides continued for more than an hour, during which stone-pelting was also reported.

After a brief standoff, the Chinese troops went back, the sources added.

Asked whether the issue was taken up at a Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) between the two sides, Kumar said details of such meetings were not shared, but added: “There were two BPMs which were held recently. One was at Nathu La and the other one was at Chusul.”

While the one at Chusul in Ladakh was held on August 16, the one at Nathu La in Sikkim sector was held a week before that.

He said that BPMs were an established mechanism for border management between India and China, and were a part of confidence building measures between the two countries to ensure peace and tranquility.